Freak Force One
by Anastasia T Wolfe
Summary: Cassie Pierce is the leader of an elite team of mutants. She picked her team from the Mutant Corps, formed by King Loki not long after his hostile takeover of Midgard in order to keep the mutants under his thumb. She and her team have been fighting Asgard on the front for four years now, and when her team is assigned as the King's personal bodyguards, she sees a way out.
1. Chapter 1

It's funny, isn't it? When you're at school, all you want to do is get out, due to the mass shootings and overzealous security guards whose purpose was solely to intimidate. You know, or at least think you know that things will get better, but nobody thinks the impossible, that it may get worse.

Away went the security guards which had James Bond or Jason Bourne complexes, away went schools and torturous exams. I was sixteen when I was forced to leave school, escaping the Gestapo like environment, but only to something worse. The year was 2000, I believe. It was the rise of a Republican senator, his name was Kelly. This was the start of a violent campaign against mutants, and when it had become clear a year later that he had been killed and replaced by a shapeshifter, the war came into full force. Mutants were considered to be as big a threat since terrorism, and the two wars operated side by side. Mutants were hunted down like terrorists, mutants were terrorists, and I hid. I didn't know what to do. My powers were beginning to make myself apparent.

At first, I thought that it was my training. You see, I used to practice Karate at the local dojo, and I had since I was small. I thought that I had started to feel what the old Japanese Master spoke of; inner peace and true harmony with nature. I could feel things, I could hear for miles away and my sight improved tenfold. Perhaps the discipline of my mind and body already helped the mutation come out. My mind worked incredibly fast, and I was very pedantic about correct placement of everything, it seemed to help me think. I could see everything whenever I entered an unfamiliar place and I remembered almost everything. My dad told me that I thought like Sherlock Holmes.

When mutants were deemed dangerous, I told my parents that my 'mind thing', as I called it for a long time, was technically classed as a mutation, and I left, running to a densely populated area in order to hide from the authorities, the ruthless MRD.

That was how I ended up living in New York for nearly ten years when the Asgardian tyrant Loki attacked the entire planet. Loki beat the Avengers, and the X-Men challenged him next. It was a pity, because if they had worked together even a little, Loki may have lost. He and his Chitauri rounded up every mutant in the tri-state area, disposed of the ones with powers that did not suit him and forced the others into his army, and forced them into the never ending war against Asgard.

I know this because I was one of the unlucky ones. My powers and knowledge were very desirable, and I was deemed extremely clever. I became a chief in Loki's army, and I led men against Asgard. I have been on the front lines for a while now, four years in fact. I am leading a team of mutants in what was called the Mutant Corps by the King or Freak Force by the members.

I am Cassie Pierce, Capo of Freak Force One.


	2. Chapter 2

7 June 2016, Camp 26, 0029 EDT

"I do not like this Cassie," Kurt whispered to me. I would be lying if I told him that I didn't feel it too, that sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. The wind whipped around us as we spoke, cutting through my meager uniform and stinging all exposed skin.

"We have no choice, Nightcrawler," I told him simply, "Loki's our king whether we like it or not."

He was silent as we walked through the tent city, and I kept an eye on him. I could feel his distain, and truth be told, I felt no different.

Camp 26 was located on the fringes of Midgardian space, close to the front lines where Asgard's space began. There was a base here because of the breathable, yet persistently disgusting atmosphere. It was dark here almost all the time, for this planet orbited its sun very slowly and very far away, so even during the day, it was dark.

"He's asked for us because he thinks that we're the best," I continued.

Kurt wore a tiny smile for a moment, taking his shallow compliment in stride for a moment, before his creased face twisted back into the scowl that I had learned to love these past four years, "will there ever be peace?" he asked me suddenly.

I stopped walking, and Kurt turned to me and watched me closely. I looked up at the sky, into the permanent night. The stars twinkled and the sky was streaked with seams of gold and purple amid the backdrop of a dark blue against the jagged black mountains of this world contrasted with the straight, crisp tents. This place would be beautiful if they weren't at war.

"I hope so, Kurt," I told him, looking into his dark eyes for a moment, "I hate this rotten war."

"Mmh," Kurt said simply, and began walking again, "I still do not understand why it must be us."

"May you live in interesting times."

"I got that in a fortune cookie once," Kurt sneered, "when this war ends, I will burn the place down."

He wandered off to his own tent at their little Hilton, leaving me to my own devices, and I walked around the camp for a few more minutes before I entered my own tent and took up a perch on my cot. Inside my tent were a few shelves made of empty condensed milk crates that I had broken the bottoms out of, and I reached above my cot for a nylon cord, my light cord. I took a book out of my shelf and opened it up at my bookmark. It was a picture of me and my family.

I was so young back then, just before I ran away from home in 2000, with a smiling, pleasant face that sometimes I didn't recognize. My hair was so long and black back then and my eyes were clear and playful. My parents were with me, smiling away, my father in a conservative suit and my mother in a short cocktail dress. I wore jeans in this picture and a black duster, an ankle length black trenchcoat that I had been given. This picture had been taken on my sixteenth birthday, a lifetime ago.

Sometimes I felt that I had to stare at this picture for hours to remind me of who I was, to remind myself that this little dissenter was once me.

I was jolted out of my esoteric meditation by a pillow hitting the back of my head, presumably thrown by my roommate Kat.

"If you're gonna read, do it in the dark."

June 8 2016. Asgard, 0165 EDT

"Now, Pierce, I have appointed you and your team as my security because your team is considerably better than any other of my Midgardian Forces."

"Yes, my King," I said flatly, walking beside him as he entered Asgard's Great Hall where Odin, the King of Asgard would meet them. My team was positioned outside to prevent assassins entering, stationed on rooftops.

I turned away from my king for a moment, "Kurt, are you in position?"

 _"Affirmative,"_ said a tiny voice in her ear, _"I have a clear view of the front door."_

I chose Kurt Wagner for my crack team because he was the only survivor of the X-Men attack on the New Order. He was asked to look after the mutant children at Xavier's School, and then the Chitauri attacked them, took the children with the useful mutations and killed the rest in front of Kurt. There were rumours that King Loki had murdered the children himself, but Kurt wouldn't speak about it. It was apparent though that after the X-Men fell, he switched sides to do what he could within the New Order.

"MJ?"

 _"I have the side entrances covered,"_ MJ told me in a thick Texan drawl. Formerly a Marine, Michael Jenkins was a machine. You could point MJ in any direction and he would fight and simply keep going. Jenkins had fantastic stamina and a body like rock which allowed him to move through even Asgardian soldiers like a tank through parked cars. He hated me at first, but then I proved to be more than a competent leader, and he accepted my rule.

"Frank?"

 _"Jet's prepped in case we have to make an emergency exit,"_ Frank Smith was an Australian, and he was endowed with a gift that made farming in such a dry climate a little easier; he could make it rain. When the worldwide war with Loki had started, he was drafted to defend Australia, which had one of the highest populations of mutants. I think a direct result of this was that Australia was the last country to fall.

"Lars?"

 _"I am on the roof, Capo, and have located four possible infiltration points I have them covered with Claymore mines."_ Lars Christiansen was Swiss, and he was a brilliant scientist. What most people didn't know was that Lars could halt time for a short time. It was very dangerous for him, and if he held time back for too long, his brain would easily explode.

"Kat?"

 _"I have the last exit on the ground covered and have located an exfiltration point if things get too hairy. It is heavily guarded, and a main thoroughfare, but with my,"_ she coughed, _"talents, it should be the cakewalk."_

Finally, there was Katerina Tatylova, a Russian who had also grown up in the Red Room. She was always second to Black Widow, and she had a gift. She could absorb small amounts of nuclear radiation and use it to power herself, redirect it and use it for special attacks. She was the big hitter of my team, Freak Force One, and she was also the roommate that helped me distill my gin.

"If you succeed at this mission, I will consider you and your team for promotion," King Loki told her further with that small yet commanding voice of his, "but only if you perform to my satisfaction."

 _Got any blow?_ It was the tiny, sarcastic voice in the back of my head that spoke to me often, and I smiled slightly until I realized that my king was looking directly at me. I shook the thought out of my head, "anything to further our advanced civilization, my king."

He wore a tiny smile along with his formal Asgardian garb, the only thing that he had kept from his old days of Princedom, I guess. He wore a helmet of gold with long curved horns sticking out from the front, green cape which brushed the floor as he walked in his specially made boots. His chest plate was leather but lined with Kevlar. He had made a few changes to his armor on Midgard, and used human body armor because of the principle that bullets hurt. With his hair cropped just below his ears, he cut a mean figure, his face thin, pale and hard, bright green eyes that looked through everything. To be honest, he unnerved me, but I think that is because he is unpredictable. I have never been able to know his hand.

I am here for a peace conference that Odin Allfather had requested, and the King's advisor suggested that he should go to Asgard to negotiate, at least for a short time. Negotiations to stop the war would improve his popularity with his people and lift his already flagging empire. But since there are assassins on all sides, his best team would protect him on enemy territory, and he was looking for a personal protections squad to protect him every time he left his castle in Manhattan. With any luck, my team will get the job.

I wore my official dress uniform, for I was to be appearing with him in public. My uniform was lightweight carbon fiber body armor protecting my chest arms and legs. I had calf high combat boots in case I had to leap into action and a steel plated helmet in case I had to head butt someone. However, there is a piece of my uniform that was not practical at all; the long, green cape that draped over my left shoulder which brushed the floor and I kept stepping on.

"You are quite uncoordinated," the King noticed.

"Permission to speak freely, my King?" I asked my King, seeking to be as polite as possible so I did not incur his wrath.

He looked at me as if I was a Plebian and he was about to do me a great favor before stepping over me, "Permission granted, with a due sense of foreboding and dread."

I smiled at that remark, "I am very coordinated at the times where it is important," he looked at me almost as if I was not supposed to know that; "Besides, this cape is far too Arthurian for my tastes."

His icy smile widened slightly and his eyes laughed at me and burned through me at the same time. It was like what I had told him was the funniest thing in the nine realms, and I decided that it would be in my best interest to remain silent.

Two Asgardian guards opened the doors of the Great Hall and allowed us to enter the main hall. I kept a close eye on them. They were clad in Asgardian armor and wore yellow capes draped across their right shoulders. They bore spears in their left hands and wore simple helmets of an Asgardian metal which resembled copper. The sides and back of their necks were covered, but the front of their necks and their chins were exposed. Despite the padding on their shins, their knees could easily be damaged to trip them up if need be. They were designed for an upfront assault with a sword, not for hand to hand defense with any sort of improvised weapon.

I stayed silent and watchful as I entered the golden inlayed wooden doors behind my king. The Hall was massive, but strangely deserted. Columns lined the main thoroughfare through the room which led up to a golden throne. On top was seated an old man with a long beard wearing grand robes. I could only assume by his holier than thou stature and seating on the throne as well as the golden adornments including pointy hat, he was the Allfather. Halfway up the stairs stood a tall, red-caped man in metal armor scales, Thor, I assumed, and three quarters up was a red haired woman with a friendly face. She was dressed in blue, herself with her own breastplate. She seemed pretty harmless, but I learned young that because something looked harmless it didn't mean that it was. She looked like she was disappointed, and I could understand her.

I know what had happened in the immediate aftermath of the war of Midgard. Thor went home after Loki had taken over Earth, and taken Jane Foster and Darcy Lewis with him in order to keep his girl and his friend safe from war. Eric Selvig was still missing, and it was only presumed that Thor was still looking for him. He was the sole survivor of the Avengers, and it was clear to see that he hated his baby brother very much. Thor had the strength of an elephant an a rage beyond measure, but the way he had taken those he cared for out of danger showed her that he wanted something more, peace.

And that left us with Odin. He was an old man even by Asgardian standards, and he looked very tired, but it seemed that he would only allow Thor to succeed after a treaty had been brokered or the war had been won. He seemed like a very stubborn old goat, and considering the past wars that he had been involved in, he fought to win. The fact that he had called them to this conference was one thing, but if he intended to follow through with it was another. He was a wily old man, and I knew that he wouldn't hesitate to fight dirty if he had to. The spark behind his blue eyes disturbed me most, a mixture between insanity, rage and cold indifference. Considering the men out the front had to obey his orders, he was the one to watch. The narrowing of his remaining eye as her king approached showed me a hatred that had been burning for quite some time, but yet a stronger love and a hint of pride. Odin sure had mixed feelings about his son.

King Loki strode across to the throne confidently and stopped at the bottom of the steps. I was not far behind him, and I kept a close eye on exactly where he was in the room. He stood between two sets of pylons; a very poorly defensible position for up to eight enemies could attack him from the east, south, north and west. I kept my eyes and ears open, except I tried not to take notice of their words, only sounds of people moving, of weapons and of the rustling of the capes that everybody seemed to wear.

"Hello Mother," he said to the woman cheekily, "Are you proud?"

"Loki," she sighed. It seemed to me that she was more disappointed in her son than angry. For all his talents, he chose to use them to conquer worlds, and she did not teach him to do this. I think that the main principles of sorcery are pretty similar to those of karate, that it is to be used for self-defense only, and its main purpose is to strengthen your body and mind. The main point is that sorcery should not be used for destruction, and that her boy had defiled the art of sorcery, perverted it.

"What happened to you?" she asked him, confirming my suspicions. She was not the type of person to hurt him, I believe, but one of those more likely to use her words to convince him of his own wrongs. Thor was silent, which I had not expected, and that worried me greatly. It seemed that he had nothing he wished to say to his brother whom he viewed as a traitor.

"I have reached my potential," King Loki said simply, "I am the king that I was always meant to be."

I studied Thor's face as he scowled deeply at his brother and his otherwise animated face became stiff and hard. He looked although he wanted to speak, but he had locked his own jaw so he would not say anything too rash that may compromise the peace. I could only figure that the boys may have once been close, but since then, Thor had become disgusted with his brother. He turned his back and strode away out of the hall without a single word.

"Thor," his mother followed, perhaps to comfort her only 'worthy' son. I watched them leave in an air of disgust and a morose sadness on seeing how far Loki had sunk, at least in their opinion. I had to feel sorry for them in a way. They had to sit and watch him destroy worlds, and could do nothing. I had been out on the front lines and watched myself commit atrocities for the sake of a pointless war which would last another thousand years and a man who threw lives away like so much garbage. We were equal in a way.

I pushed a curl away from my left ear and touched my radio earpiece, "Kat, keep an eye on grande rosso and Morgana," I checked my watch and looked up again, "Nightcrawler, keep an eye on those clowns by the door."

 _"I have an angle,"_ Kat whispered in my ear, _"I can also see Red and Morgana."_

 _"I see them too. They are heading east,"_ Kurt whispered to me, _"you want me to shadow them?"_

"Night, don't abandon your post, Kat, shadow them," I told them simply. I was aware of Odin staring at me as if I was some sort of freak, and of course I was, but that was beside the point, "keep me posted."

"Who is the wench?"

I scowled at Odin. That made me immediately hate him, and I was not the only one. I saw my King's smile slip into a deep scowl at the king of Asgard. I couldn't help but to match this scowl and I balled my right fist slightly as I often did to remain calm.

"This wench, as you call her, is the Capo of my personal guard," Loki snapped at Odin, "she has spilled more Asgardian blood than even you, Odin, which is quite an achievement."

Odin's face twisted into a scowl. I had to smile at that blatant show of disrespect, but I refrained from saying anything. King Loki was often very hard on people who spoke to him out of turn, and I did not want to be on the other side of his spear. The king had just gained a few more ball points in my opinion. I fidgeted with my cape a little more, letting the simple cotton scratch at my fingertips and relax my nerves somewhat. I continued to scan the room.

Very high ceilings, a human could walk in here and believe that it had been made by giants. One had to rappel down a column to get down here, and she couldn't see any landings that they could come down from. Fortunately, Lars had it covered. The columns were both detrimental and helpful for simple defense. Their enemies could hide behind the columns in mass, but could be used by them as defensive positions. I don't like the terrain either. Flat terrain, mostly with a single ascending staircase at the end, the one with the throne on it, and I couldn't see any other exits other than the one that we had just entered, and that alarmed me a little, so I decided to think of it as only one entrance.

"Dismiss your guard, Loki, I wish to speak with you privately," Odin commanded, and I turned all my attention back to him. Something told me that if he wasn't planning something, he knew what was going down; after all, he could see at least some of the future.

"Pierce stays with me," he told Odin sharply, "and I am your equal, you shall refer to me as King Loki of Midgard."

"You only my equal in rank!"

I rolled my eyes, but otherwise I did nothing. I just stood still with my arms by my sides, relaxed but ready. _So much for a peace conference,_ I thought to myself, and I wished that I could get away with saying it out loud. I couldn't get away with it of course, but I wished for it more than ever.

"You are correct," King Loki replied, "I am greater than you."

"Dismiss her," Odin commanded again.

"Permission to speak, Sire?" I asked. It cut the tension a little , and all eyes fell upon me.

"Granted," my king said simply, "don't do anything stupid," he whispered to me hoarsely.

"My king is my charge, Allfather, I am bound by honor to defend" I addressed Odin this time, "If you had entered into our territory for this conference, would you dismiss your Warriors Three? Is it too much to ask that my king should have one personal guard whilst you, in his situation, would have three?"

Odin narrowed his eyes at me, "You never said that she was clever."

Loki wore a sly smile as he looked up at Odin, "I only employ the best," he said smugly, "now, shall we discuss the terms of your surrender?"

I had to smile at my king's crassness, and I felt good about that backhanded compliment. I knew that in this job, I would never receive a kinder word. Either way, I still felt uncomfortable around Odin, and even more about the Queen of Asgard. I had no idea why, but she made me feel strange.

The Queen reentered the room, and I had that strange feeling again. I backed away from my king and tapped my earpiece, "do you still have eyes on Morgana?"

 _"Yes, Fraulein Pierce,"_ Kurt told her, _"she is still with Rosso."_

"Is she acting suspiciously in any way?"

 _"Negative,"_ he told her simply, _"she is simply speaking to her son."_

"Copy that Night, out."

I wasn't listening to the kings speak, I focused on the Queen. There was a strange smell that she couldn't quite identify, almost like sauerkraut, but Kurt was heading east, following Big Red and another Queen of Asgard. Before when Frigga was in the room, there was no smell, so this queen had to be an imposter. I did not want to interrupt Loki and Odin, for they seemed too engrossed in their verbal slap fight to be concerned. Instead, I approached Frigga who stood with her back against a pylon on the top of the staircase.

"My greetings to you," I said to her simply. Loki and Odin stopped speaking and looked at me.

"Pierce," Loki snapped at me, "get back here this instant."

"How dare you, Mortal?"

"The gig is up."

That was when she began to hiss, and her hiss called in the guards, and I had to wonder, was this normal Asgardian behavior?


	3. Chapter 3

The three guards and Frigga herself slowly shifted from humanoid form to more lizard-like one, with smoother line, pointed ears and green skin.

"Is this normal Asgardian behavior?" I asked out loud.

Both Odin and Loki stared at her for a long time as their assailants aimed their weapons at them, "what are Skrulls doing here?" Loki shouted at Odin, "You are willing to jeopardize a peace for them?"

"I did not invite them here, if that is what you believe," Odin snapped.

"In case you hadn't noticed, your guards are the ones that were compromised, not mine," Loki yelled, "if you did not invite them, you have a hole in your security forces that you could throw a bilgesnipe through."

I walked backwards, back towards my king, "behind me, my King," I demanded.

"How dare you tell me what to do, Mortal?" King Loki snapped at her.

"Have you fought a Skrull before?" I waited for the inevitable silence, "thought not," I touched my earpiece, "FF1, assemble. I need your helmet, Sire."

"Is there anything you want, Pierce?" he narrowed his eyes at me, but otherwise he removed his helmet and tossed it to me. I swiped it out of the air and sliced through the top of my cape, casting the fabric aside and dropping it on the floor.

I narrowed my eyes, "only that you stay in safety, Sire."

There were three Skrulls, and I narrowed my eyes at each of them, analyzing their weaknesses. They all wheeled around on me, seeing that I was the greatest threat. They must have seen me communicate with my team, and it would make the most sense to take me out first to get the kings. The first attacked, jumping into the air. With my king's helmet in my hands, I thought quickly.

"Alright, Lizard Features, let's dance."

 _Rock Concert Movement number 86; The sidewinder._

I swung the helmet in a wide arc and hooked the horns on the helmet around the legs of the Skrull and pulled it down to my level as the others attacked behind their leader, who happened to wear a dress.

 _Fall and whack._

As one of the others lunged its claws at me, and I dodged his swipe, but as I did, I grabbed his scaly fist in a lock and then stepped in behind and locked his shoulder. Now I could manipulate the Skrull.

 _Hide from the cops._

I moved to block the first Skrull again, with the body of the second. The first struck the second in the stomach as I forced it in front of the razor claws. The second fell to the floor stone dead, and I grabbed a large, curved knife from the belt of the dead Skrull.

 _Lawnmower._

With the knife, I slashed at the first a couple of times. He pulled his own knife on me, and I glanced over at my shoulder, the other was coming at me from behind.

 _Another Martini please; shaken not stirred._

I ducked down below the two Skrulls as they collided and slipped down between the legs of the first and stabbed the other from behind, in the neck, and he too fell.

 _Dunk in the gin and vermouth and shake._

I grabbed King Loki's helmet from the ground and leaped into the air as far as possible. I brought it down upon his head, and his neck broke with a crack.

 _Don't forget the olive._

The leader began to get up from the attack, and I punched it out, and that was the last thought it had.

I looked up at the two kings, with a look of mild disinterest, and then I grabbed my cape off the floor, wiped my king's dinted helmet clean of blood, and handed it back. King Loki was silent, so was the Allfather.

"This conference is over!" Loki shouted at his father after he had regained his voice, "there will be no peace!"


	4. Chapter 4

My heart was still pounding in my ears as father and son shouted at each other, each one pointing the finger at the other. It would probably only be a matter of time until they got out the clubs and beat each other to death, so breathing heavily, I slung my torn cape across my shoulder and stepped over one of the dead Skrulls.

"Sire."

He didn't listen to me; he kept shouting and completely ignored me, but continued his shouting-match with Odin. I narrowed my eyes. I think I might hate today.

 _"_ _Frauline, there's a bunch of guards heading your way. It seems the panic button has been pressed,"_ Kurt whispered in her ear, _"You must leave now if you wish your head remain on your shoulders."_

 _Cheese it! The cops!_

"Right, Nightcrawler," I said flatly, "I'll get him." I mustered up all my courage and tapped my king on the shoulder, "Sire, the Asgardians are coming, and they outnumber us ten to one."

"There will be peace, at the cost of your life!"

"Your guards?" he said indignantly, "your plan was to kill me all along, that's very... you," Loki hissed at his father and then looked at me with his deep eyes that bore into mine. I hid my slight intimidation from him as well as I could, but he simply gave me a tiny smile, "and what do you suggest that we do, Bodyguard?"

"I suggest a tactical retreat, Sire."

"Run!" Odin yelled at the pair of them, "run from your responsibility like you have always done!"

I wheeled around my glare at Odin, "go suck on a combat boot."

"I doubt if we have a choice," Loki narrowed his eyes as the doors burst open. Twenty or so guards burst into the room. He narrowed his eyes at me as if to say something like 'whatever your plan is, Wench, you had better enact it soon'.

"Wait for it," I held my king's arm for a moment more, "Crawler! Now!"


	5. Chapter 5

_Bamf!_

In an instant, Kurt stood before us, his grayish black face streaked with sweat, "greetings mein führer." He grabbed my arm in his sweaty grasp and I bit my lip.

 _Bamf!_

We were now on the ground beyond the Great Hall. I watched as the guards that were in the Great Hall begin to arrange themselves into search groups, and Odin was shouting at them, orders to locate and kill King Loki and his bodyguards. I bit my lip so hard it drew blood. Kurt was panting off to the side like a hot puppy. I put a hand on his shoulder, "you have three minutes, Kurt."

"Danke," he muttered in German.

The land around us was moist and green with golden paths running around other outlying buildings. It appeared that we were in a courtyard of sorts. Pylons for support ran around the outside of the buildings in a very Greco-Roman style, which didn't make much sense for a realm inhabited by the Viking gods. These pylons left alcoves in the walls that we, and perhaps them, could use as reliable cover. Exotic trees and flowers shrouded the area with shade, but also some exquisite colorful blossoms. It was a beautiful place, wide and flat, but as I noticed, with a full view of the palace and the guards amassing there, ready to take us out. That's when I noticed a problem with the alcoves. If they took Kurt out, we would be pinned down and probably killed a lot.

I hissed as I realized that three squads of soldiers were coming our way, at least ten of them, possibly more, in that same ridiculous getup that the guys in front of the hall earlier had on. "You've got to be kidding," I narrowed my eyes, "my draft-board told me there would be more water-skiing," I hissed. I was aware that King Loki was staring at me as if I was some sort of freak, and I tapped my earpiece again, "come in, everyone. The peace conference has gone down the tubes. I need you all to get yourselves to the exfiltration point before the Asgardians get you, Kat, Lars, some backup would be helpful. Frank, move in, we need you."

I grabbed Loki's arm again, "come, Sire," I said forcefully, "we must return to the Blackbird."

He shook himself free of my grasp, "Is that your entire plan? Get back to the Blackbird? Perhaps you don't realize that the Asgardians also have ships and will likely shoot your bucket of nails out of the sky. And getting back to the Blackbird would be much easier if we did not have a small army coming our way!"

"I have a plan, Sire," I looked my king directly in the eye, "follow my commands and don't die."

"How dare you-."

"My king," It was Kurt, "there was a reason why you chose our team to defend you," he said simply, "As there is a reason Piece is our Kommandant. I believe that you shall do well by listening to her." He handed me my plasma pistol and I took it. It was a piece of technology that Loki had gained from the Chitauri, only miniaturized and easier to hide on the person. I stuffed it into the back of my uniform and glanced at my watch.

"We've been on the front lines of this war for four years now," I said to my king simply, "I know what I'm doing."

Loki fumed, "Fine," he hissed.

"Kurt," I said simply, my heart beating in my ears, "your three minutes are up," I cocked my pistol.


	6. Chapter 6

I pulled my king behind a pylon as soon as I saw that first flash of yellow in the corner of my eyes, and I ducked to my knee and raised my pistol to my eye, staring down the site, "be silent, my king." He narrowed his eyes at me, apparently not taking well to being told what to do.

There were five of them coming from ten o'clock and another five from two o clock, converging on us, and that was only the first wave, "Bamf it up, Kurt."

Kurt nodded to me and I nodded back.

 _Bamf!_

I ducked behind the pylon to avoid some plasma fire from the Asgardian staves, "any time now, Herr Wanger."

 _Bamf!_

"Hallo Soldaten," He said in German, "Ich bin der erstaunlichen Nishtcrawler, und ich bin eine ablenkung." Kurt stood behind the squad, in a bad guy sandwich between the first and second waves, but he dodged their weapons expertly.

I narrowed my eyes and gritted my teeth, but otherwise I ducked from behind the pylon and began to shoot glaring down my sight so I could aim my weapons more accurately and help reduce the likelihood that Kurt would be shot.

 _I am the amazing Nightcrawler and I am a distraction._

All of Kurt's Munich Circus skills were being put into action right here, right now, and while the soldiers were distracted, we struck.

 _Thin the herd._

Kurt wrapped his pitchfork tail around an Asgardian staff and attempted to rip it out of his hand. The staff's power source was about to overload when I shot that man in the head. The soldier's head was blasted backwards, his neck broken by the energy weapon.

 _Bamf!_

Kurt teleported out, and I couldn't see where he had gone for a moment. Several other solders squared in on me, and I fired at them, "Kurt! Get your pointy ass down here!"

 _Bamf!_

 _I will shove that pointy tail right up his…_

Kurt phased in with the dead body thirty feet above the surface of the roadway, dropped his load and phased out.

 _Bamf!_

The dead soldier fell on top of the three others closest to me, crushing their heads to the floor. Even I was surprised at it. It was like one of those scenes in Monty Python where God decides that someone isn't fit to breathe the air on his planet and the next thing you see is a giant foot coming down from the heavens and squashing the guy in the head.

My king and I exchanged glances. He looked almost as surprised as I was, and I let out a small chuckle before turning back to the fight. The second wave had arrived, and they were ignoring Kurt for the most part, and paying attention to me. There were twenty of them. Clearly the other five were advanced scouts to find out what they were up against. Now they were prepared. They fired at me and I knocked my king back into the small alcove between the pylon and the wall. We were pinned, but I wasn't out of ammo yet.

"Get back!" I ordered. They were still coming at me, and I continued to fire after my moment of sheer surprise. My heart was still thumping. Plasma weapons hit the roadway all around me, and they fired at the pylon where my king hid, waiting for me and Kurt to take care of the bad guys.

"Sleep," said a female voice from behind the ten remaining soldiers and I looked past them to see a tall, willowy blonde who walked with purpose and stood her full height proudly. Within a few moments, the soldiers had all fallen to the ground, some on their weapons and some not, but mostly fast asleep. She lowered her thin hands to her sides from the position slightly away from her body. She glanced at the third wave which was starting to come in from the west, waved a hand at them, and they fell too. She smiled at me, "hey Cas."

"Yo, Kat, what took you?" I took a glance back to my king, "The threat is over for now, Sire," I told him simply.

 _Bamf!_

Kurt teleported back in next to Kat, "this was a most productive day."

"It's not over yet, team," I said to them, "we've still gotta hook up with MJ and Lars and RV at the Blackbird with Frank."

"I believe that your pilot is ahead of you," It was Loki, and I looked over at him with narrowed eyes, and then followed his gaze up into the Asgardian sky. Lo and behold, the dark silhouette of the Blackbird, hovering not a hundred metres above me. The Blackbird had been fitted with noise cancelling in the engines, so that was why I hadn't heard the Blackbird coming, and I had been too distracted to notice the shadow loom over me. Of course, this Asgardian garden was mostly shade, so I could forgive myself for that.

"I never get over that sight," I muttered, but the then I touched my radio, "hey, what's up?"

 _"_ _Lars is already on board with me,"_ Frank said simply, _"Will you mates board already?"_


	7. Chapter 7

I pushed my way up to the co-pilot seat, "Kurt, make sure the king is all tucked in, and we'll get going."

Kurt helped Loki find a seat as I put on my flight headphones and readied the co-pilot's instruments and controls in case Frank had to hand it off to me at some point.

"We made it," Loki breathed, "I cannot believe we actually made it."

I sighed, "it's not over until the fat lady sings," I said simply as we took off from Asgard, "we'll be pursued, and probably bombed knowing the Asgardians," I looked back at my king, who was looking a little worried again, "not to worry, Sire. Frank's one of the best pilots to ever come out of Australia."

"When he adjusts his bifocals," Lars sniffed.

"Is that a crack about my age?" Frank snapped back.

"Easy kids," I rolled my eyes, "only six more hours to go." It was ironic me calling them kids, when I was actually the youngest, but if they were going to act like children, I would treat them as such.


	8. Chapter 8

After being relentlessly pursued by several Asgardian ships, we arrived behind our own lines, just. This was the world where our base, Base 26 was located. The locals, a group of Dark Elves called the Hekari named this planet something unpronounceable, the Midgardian forces called it Grenada, I just called it Hell. This was the very edge of Midgardian space, and there was about five miles straight up between our lines and the Asgardian lines. That meant that this planet was bombed to oblivion more than Kat and I would be on a Saturday night. That was what took the good old Blackbird down.

Artillery took us down. Inwardly I groaned. I had the distinct feeling that this was our artillery from a ground to air missile battery about fifteen clicks away, trying and failing to take down the Asgardian ships. By the inaccuracy of the shooting, I was probably right.

I grabbed my king around the shoulders and ushered him off the Blackbird, which Frank had landed on a small ridge. We jumped down into a ditch, and I forced him to the ground just before a tiny tree line. It was rocky and pointy, but I stayed down, and held Loki firmly to the ground.

Kurt was to my side, with the rest of my team. He had a problem with his 'gift'. He could only teleport four people at a time, and today that was Kat, Lars, Frank and MJ. That was a real bummer when the team numbered five. I guess Kurt knew that I could look after myself as well as protect the king, and he was right.

"How long must we stay like this?" Loki whispered to me hoarsely as another explosion shook the sky near where we were.

"Until the shooting stops," I whispered back, "keep down!"

After a few moments that lasted forever, the shelling stopped, and I looked up, then I got up slowly to take a look at the damage.

"Aww, Man," I moaned, getting shakily to my feet as I pulled myself out of the ditch. The others followed my example.

The Blackbird would have been able to fly even with the damage that she had taken on before landing, albeit not very far. That would have been fine to get back to base, but then they would have needed to take on some emergency repairs. That was out of the question now. I shielded my eyes from the flames as they burned.

The Blackbird was in pieces. One of the artillery shells had hit it, and the fuel blew up.

"Where's the Blackbird?" MJ asked dumbly.

I pulled a face, "there, there, and, oh yeah, there," I pointed out the bits of Blackbird that I could see with my naked eye, and most of them were burning with jet fuel. The smoke was acrid, and took the paint off my lungs when I breathed it in.

"Forge is going to kill us," Kurt said simply.

"Easy for you to say, Kraut," Frank shot back, "you aren't responsible for it. I am! I signed it out. My head's gonna be the one on a stick, Pal."

"And who is going to help him fix it?" Lars shot back, "certainly not you, Flyboy."

"Oh, Lord," Kat sighed.

Fortunately MJ didn't say a word. He didn't speak when it wasn't appropriate. He narrowed his eyes at me, waiting for me to defuse the argument, one of my key duties as commanding officer.

King Loki approached me, slightly flabbergasted and a little distant as he stared at me, "are they always like this?" He didn't want to show it, but I could tell that he was getting a little distressed.

I arched an eyebrow at my king, unsure of what I could say to him, "Uhh... only when they're awake." I knew the feeling. I was starting to get impatient myself. "Listen up," I shouted at the top of my lungs. I knew that the veins in my neck were starting to stick out of my neck because of all the tension and I knew that would bother Lars in particular.

The fighting boys were silenced, "sorry, Boss," Frank said.

"Good. So you should be," I narrowed my eyes at the lot of them, "we're on Grenada, the base is twenty clicks from here. If we move now, we can get back to base before nightfall."

"Like you can tell the difference on this planet," Lars replied snidely.

"Shut it Cheese," I shot back.

"Twenty miles?" It was Loki, his slightly shell-shocked look had been replaced with his trademark look of indignation and fury, "surely you jest."

"Nope."

"There must be another way."

I turned on my heel, and narrowed my eyes at him, "that depends," I said hoarsely, "are you hiding a pair of wings underneath that fancy cape?"

"How dare you-."

That was when I really lost it, and I narrowed my eyes at him, "How dare me what?" I snapped back, "Call you out on your stupidity? In case you hadn't noticed, the Blackbird's been shattered into more pieces than Rain Man can count. I don't wanna walk twenty miles in this half light; the dogs come out about this time. I've been jumping around all day trying to defend your sorry backside from Asgardians, Skrulls, all sorts, and you thank me with righteous indignation and sass? Act your age, not your shoe size."

Loki's mouth hung open for a minute, "careful Mate," Frank said, "someone's liable to trip over your jaw."

"I can have you executed for that!" Loki informed me in a scathing tone, "and I can also do much worse to you."

I spread my arms, "go ahead! It can't be any worse than this stupid war. I see the war, I hear the war, I eat the war, I drink the war, I dress the war. I'd sleep the war if only I knew what sleep was!" I sighed, "I'm tired, cold, hungry and have an almost constant pain in my head like someone's trying to countersink a railway spike through my brain, and then you tell me that I'm an insolent little Wench that has to work harder for you," I was fuming, and I just knew that vein in my head was sticking out again, "Worse? What can be worse than rats mating in my bed? What's worse than cockroach races at the Cesspool every week?"

"I thought you liked the races," MJ said simply.

"Whatever you could possibly do to me will be no worse than the Mess Tent dinner we'll all be served when we make it back to camp," I snapped, "Any torture that you could possibly come up with would be a walk in the park compared to what I have been forced to deal with or even eat since I got drafted, so screw you and your insults. And you can take that promotion of yours and shove it up your ass."

"You are an insolent little wench!" he shot back.

"How original," I narrowed my eyes, "you hired me to protect you, so right now the chain of command stops with me. You can kill me later, providing we get out of this alive. Kurt, MJ, keep an eye on his royal heinie."

I turned away before king Loki got to give me the chewing out I probably deserved and pulled a compass out of my pocket. Every planet has a north pole and a south pole; they were called different things and located in different places. However misleading that was, an old human compass could still lead a team right even on an alien planet. My father had given me this one before I had left home, so I could always find my way back home, he said. However between government upon government instituting mutant hunts from the ruthless MRD and this damned war, I had never got the chance to use this compass the way Dad always wanted.

I mentioned wordlessly for my team to follow me, and they followed as I forged a path through the half light and rocks.

"It has been a long day," Kurt said.

"That is no excuse for her actions," Loki bit back at him.

Kurt sighed, "She did not mean to be rude, meine Konig, but she has been under a lot of pressure recently. She did not wish to insult, but to let off some steam."

"I do not care," he said hoarsely.

"She cries herself to sleep," MJ said suddenly, "it's not pretty."

"Enough chatter," I hissed through gritted teeth. Blew up a peace talk, a plane and a promotion in a single day; Boy, I am good.

"My feet hurt," Loki moaned.

I sighed. It was the third time that he had complained, and that was in the last five minutes, "I will serve you, Sire, I will even carry your books, but I will not carry you." I glanced at Loki with narrowed eyes, and then looked straight ahead, "besides, we're nearly there. The camp's just over the ridge, and so my future doom."

"That is the nicest thing that I have heard this day," Loki hissed.

I glanced at Loki again. He was trudging across the rocks, looking far tireder than I had anticipated. Frank was in his early sixties and still kept up a better pace than him, and despite his age, he didn't limp either. That was more than I could say for Loki.

"Sire?" I asked cautiously, "Are you alright?"

"No, I am not alright! I have been walking for hours!"

I drew back slightly, "you don't have to bite my head off," I narrowed my eyes, "we're nearly at Casa De Up-Chuck, so soon we'll part ways. However, if you're really desperate for a break we can always stop here for a couple of minutes."

He sighed himself, and his gaze became a little softer, "no, we keep moving. You are correct."

I raised my eyebrows and glared at him for a moment, "is that a joke?"

"No."


End file.
